| AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND-(2-3-2003) Dean Barker awoke unaware of the life event that was about to pass. He arrived at Team New Zealand in a grey morning with a light drizzle falling. When he saw Russell Coutts, his life was changed forever.
Coutts put his arm on Barker’s shoulder and informed him that he was going to skipper NZL-60 in the fifth and what would be deciding race of America’s Cup 2000.
Some 10 hours later, New Zealand had become the first country other than the U.S. to successfully defend the America’s Cup. Coutts and Barker stood arm in arm, hoisting the Auld Mug aloft to a rousing ovation from some 75,000 fans packed around Auckland’s ViaductBasin.
The America’s Cup landscape has changed immensely in the last three years. Nationalities are being forsaken in the quest for the über-syndicate. One of those is Alinghi, which lured the services of Coutts and five other key New Zealand crewmembers in May 2000. Once they left, Barker became the full-fledged skipper of Team New Zealand.
Today, one day after his 41st birthday, Coutts will hoist the America’s Cup over his head for the third consecutive time since 1995. He’s won the America’s Cup for Ernesto Bertarelli’s first-time challenger Alinghi Team of Switzerland.
Coutts and Alinghi won the best-of-nine series against Barker and Team New Zealand 5-0. At every turn, Alinghi simply was better and more prepared than Team New Zealand.
Team New Zealand was a shell of its former dominating self. When Team New Zealand won back-to-back Cups (1995, 2000) by the combined score of 10-0, there were no chinks in their armour. The crew gave the designers a mantra of designing a boat that could be developed to 100 percent potential. They didn’t want any gimmicks that might spoil their run.
For its second defence, Team New Zealand strayed away from that thinking. They placed their hopes on the hula, a stern hull appendage.
The hula allowed Team New Zealand’s designers to draw a low transom, which was desirable to add waterline length when sailing. But that length was unrated because of the way the boat was measured, which also gave them more sail area because the boat appeared shorter.
With a low transom buoyancy had to be added to trim the boat fore-and-aft, which is what the hula did.
In reality, the hula may have caused more trouble than it was worth. Certainly, its weight meant that there was less weight in the ballast bulb, lowering the boat’s stability. To compensate, Team New Zealand created a low and long bulb, trying to lower the centre of gravity. But that didn’t seem to help. NZL-82 appeared more tender than SUI-64 in the windy conditions.
Team New Zealand also spent many hours in the boatshed assuring the measurers that the hula wouldn’t touch the hull, which would contravene the rules. The extra time in the shed meant less time on the water.
Team New Zealand also had breakdowns, which was uncharacteristic of its five-year domination. NZL-82 dropped out of two races due to a variety of reasons, including a broken boom and damaged genoa head foil (Race 1) and a broken mast (Race 4).
When asked what he learned from this campaign and what he would do differently, syndicate head Tom Schnackenberg said they “could afford to be more conservative in the design.”
He mentioned that they didn’t manage the risk-to-reward benefits properly. “We don’t have to be the lightest here or there,” Schnackenberg said. “The lesson is to be more conservative. We don’t have to be the lightest.”
Many of Team New Zealand’s problems can’t be attributed to the departure of Coutts and company, but Alinghi’s clinical dismantling of the Kiwi defenders can be. Alinghi has been rock steady in its performance, never missing a beat.
Design coordinator Grant Simmer and lead designer Rolf Vrolijk produced a solid design that had plenty of room for development. The crew, led by Coutts and tactician Brad Butterworth, then squeezed every available second out of the 25-metre yacht. No part of the boat went unnoticed in the quest for development.
That’s the difference that tilted the balance in favour of Alinghi.
“I’m really proud of this team,” Coutts said in a television interview after the race. “Two and a half years ago this was nothing. We pulled together 15 different nationalities.”
Team New Zealand, however, made their job even easier by dropping out of two races. It’s hard enough to beat Coutts and company in an even series. Spotting them two races, particularly the first, made the Kiwi’s task impossible.
Alinghi finished the America’s Cup season with a 31-4 overall record. On-the-water they were 30-3. Coutts has set a few records in this event.
He becomes the all-time winning skipper in the America’s Cup Match, having won 14 races with no defeats. He also tied Charlie Barr and Harold Vanderbilt for consecutive Cup wins, three.
While Coutts has won 14 consecutive races, some of his teammates have won more. Butterworth, Murray Jones (traveller, wind spotter), Warwick Fleury (mainsheet), Simon Daubney (genoas) and Dean Phipps (bow) all have won 15 races. They’re all former Team New Zealand crewmembers.
“The record’s pretty exciting,” said Butterworth. “It’s good to have Coutts one back.”
The Kiwis hardly did it themselves. German strategist Jochen Schuemann adds an America’s Cup victory to his four Olympic medals, including three golds.
Grinder John Barnitt (U.S.) won his third America’s Cup, having won twice previously with Dennis Conner (1987, ’88). Pitman Josh Belsky (U.S.) has won his second Cup, having won with America3 in 1992.
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